I want to try a Gew 88, unmodified at .318. Now of course I can spend $150+ for the fitting RCBS custom dies, but I keep finding hints on people modifying a standard .323 set to seat the .318 bullets. Any help on how to do that?

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I used to love being able to hit hard at 1000 yards. As I get older I find hitting a mini ram at 200 yards with the 22 oddly more satisfying.

I've got a Gew 88, it is marked with the 'S'.
I never got around to loading for it (too many more appealing loadings to work with). I figured that nice soft lead loading would be best for it. I would council you think strongly of lead loads.

Mine is marked with the date of 1890 and armory dated 1914 and Turkish marking to boot. As good a Mauser's steel may have been, I'm chicken. Black powder weapon that is over a hundred years old, light/nice lead loadings and then with slower (more push than pop) powder.

Actually, the 88 was never a black powder gun, being developed specifically for the newfangled smokeless powder the French came up with. So I agree on the problems with the 88 - the metal being the least of it, which is why I want to reload low pressure rounds if I can solve the die issue.

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I used to love being able to hit hard at 1000 yards. As I get older I find hitting a mini ram at 200 yards with the 22 oddly more satisfying.

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